Dominia

To the individual or individuals responsible for destroying the blood cult that was terrorizing the region of Aldon’s Valley in Gyos. The lords and people of that region are greatly indebted, and would like to bestow a token of their gratitude to the hero or heroes responsible. A payment of 500 silver is available to whoever can prove that they are the one responsible.

Once again, our most humble thanks to the unidentified hero or heroes.

From the journal of Kurama

Ugh, why can’t I just have a normal life? Things keep getting weirder and weirder in the city of Val’Halla. Will got possessed, Mute almost killed him trying to save him and Aiden has gone off and disappeared- before he could help me fight Orion, no less.

Alac seems to be making good progress on that flying ship of his. The whole concept still seems absurd to me, but if it’s what his late father wanted, then who am I to say otherwise?

Mute seems a lot more energetic lately. His confidence has built up a lot since we got him a soul thanks to Caleb. I’m glad I was able to help him. Knowing he can deal with his problems makes me think I might just be able to deal with everything I’ve been through.

I ran into that Lagonis fellow again today. I’m not sure what to make of everything he’s telling me, but I can’t see why he would lie about it. If it’s true, then he is the reason Ahriman is here on Ibellin. He seems sincere in wanting to make up for though, so I’ve accepted his help in dealing with Orion.

Speaking of Orion, there’s something bothering me about all that. Using the link formed of the Blood Pact, I can sense his emotions. I haven’t tried sensing his emotions since he first made the pact and back then he radiated rage and hatred, much of which rubbed off on me. Of course, Multani’s and Cyprus’ murders didn’t help with any of that, but thankfully I am getting better at dealing with those emotions. If I don’t or can’t handle it, I’m afraid of what I could turn into… But getting back to my line of thought, lately I’ve been on edge about Orion. I expected him to strike by now. Taking my new allies’ advice, I’ve decided it would be better to stop waiting and take the initiative. I reached out through the link to find him and discovered his emotions were no longer anger and hatred, but fear and uncertainty. I can’t understand why and it scares me. Still, I have help now so I’ll still take the fight to him though I have no idea what to expect.

In preparing for the showdown with Orion, I decided to test my mettle against Jin Kei, an arena champion who’s come to Val’Halla. After hearing about some other acquaintances who couldn’t match him, I decided to fight alongside Alac, Will and Lagonis. The prize was 10,000 gold, which apparently is a huge amount, even split four-ways. I thought the better prize was the experience though, as Jin Kei has been fighting in arenas for years and has never been beaten. Thanks to the efforts of my allies, we were able to accomplish that which no one could, and we struck down the arena champion.

We went back to Alac’s tavern to eat a well-earned meal where Jin Kei was as well. He had incredible talent and was clearly a martial arts master. I humbly asked him to train me and he accepted. I don’t think I’ll get a chance to work with him before I go to face Orion, but should I survive, Jin Kei will help prepare me for the greater threat, Ahriman.

I plan to hunt down Orion tomorrow. This needs to be resolved once and for all. I don’t regret killing his sister, though I pity him. Despite that, I can’t lose. I have far too much left to do in this world.